Woman thanks motorist for rescuing her from scary situation pursued by two men while jogging in Sleaford

The woman, from Leasingham, who did not wish to be named, for her safety, said she had been jogging through town today when she found herself in a scary situation and wants to thank the motorist who pulled over when she flagged him down near the Spar shop on Grantham Road.

"Thank you!" she said. "I was being followed by two fit young men as I jogged through town on Sunday morning; they started by blocking the pavement as I ran along near the train station, forcing me to run in the road, then taunting me as I neared the Spar shop before deciding to follow me...it became very scary very quickly.

"I flagged down the next car and you were incredible - you pulled over, jumped out and told them to leave well alone.

"They claimed to be 'having some fun' but you were adamant that they were scaring me and that they should leave female runners well alone, and you waited until there was a safe distance between us. Thank you.

"I hope the lads have had time to reflect and realised how much they scared me this morning," she said.

She said she had not reported it to police as the station is on the edge of town and was unlikely to be manned at that time.

She added: "A couple of years ago I was running along a wide path by a river in another town when a male cyclist rode straight at me, then got off and told me that females should not be running on paths when men need them to get to work and he said I'd be sorry if I was running along a path when he wanted to cycle on it in the future.."

She reported it to police but nothing came of it. "I'm just so glad the motorist stopped when I flagged them down and they got the lads to back off, the vast majority of Sleafordians are brill."

This incident comes as a new online reporting tool designed to support the public to feel safer on their streets is being promoted by Lincolnshire Police.

You can report areas of Lincolnshire where you feel less safe on the Street Safe tool.

You can anonymously drop a pin on the online map where behaviour or environment might make you uncomfortable. The force pledges to then make sure local policing teams are aware.

A Lincolnshire Police spokesman said: “This is a Government pilot that we are supporting and signposting people to. We analyse the data and make sure our local teams are aware of it, and can pay necessary attention to areas that are flagged up.”

It comes at a time of heightened anxiety about women’s safety on the streets after the murder of Sarah Everard and locally a woman was assaulted while walking late at night on Mareham Pastures in Sleaford in July, leading to a protest march and formation of a women’s safety group. As yet no one has been charged with this offence.

StreetSafe is for anyone to anonymously tell police about public places where you have felt or feel unsafe, because of environmental issues, eg street lighting, abandoned buildings or vandalism and/or because of some behaviours, such as being followed or verbally abused. Just go to: police.uk/streetsafeThe government makes clear StreetSafe is not for reporting crime or incidents.

StreetSafe is anonymous, which means the police will not be able to investigate and contact you about what happened.

If something has happened to you or someone you know (including in public spaces online) you can call 101 or find out what online reporting services are available.